Main navigation

There has been a revival at the house of Gucci. For the first time in a long time (since Tom Ford was at the helm, in fact) the olfactory style of the house is in tune its visual aesthetic. Of course, the fashion has evolved tremendously since then and the bohemian, vintage chic that Creative Director Alesandro Michele has brought to the house has made Gucci THE fashion brand everybody wants. Michele clearly gets perfume, having worked with Master Perfumer Alberto Morillas to create intriguing, on-brand creations such as Gucci Bloom, Gucci Guilty Absolute and now, Memoire d’une Odeur, completely overhauling the way Gucci presents perfume. I for one, am here for it.

Memoire d’une Odeur explores the intrinsic link between memory and scent. For Michele, the scent memory he wished to recreate was that of Roman Chamomile, which takes centre stage in what Gucci are positioning as a “mineral aromatic”. This fragrance, they say, is universal – it’s for everyone regardless of gender or age – and that, my friends, is exactly how every fragrance should be. Memoire d’une Odeur is an unusual, unfamiliar fragrance that conjurs a specific memory for Michele and creates a new one for those who experience it.

A few months ago or so, I sat down with iconic perfumer Francis Kurkdjian to chat perfume. This was my second time meeting Francis but my first interviewing him and he was as ever, candid, fun, cheeky and fascinating. You see, I’m a bit of a Kurkdjian fan boy and interviewing the man himself was a bit of a pinch myself moment, after all, I had spent much of misspent youth dancing in gay clubs surrounded by an atomic cloud of Le Mâle, and there I was meeting the very man that made that perfume. As you can tell from the ensuing conversation, he did not disappoint.

It was an interesting time to meet Francis Kurkdjian too – just after the launch of Gentle Fluidity, a duo of fragrances that are inspired by gender fluidity and share the same materials in different proportions. It was also the tenth year of Maison Francis Kurkdjian, his eponymous brand which was acquired by luxury conglomerate LVMH two years prior. Francis and I talked his new fragrances, not fitting in, the innovative products within his Maison and how social media is impacting the beauty industry and his favourite pair of leather trousers – it was an eyeopening discussion.

In this week’s episode of the Fume Chat podcast, we discuss the fragrance families and ask themselves whether terms like “fougère” and “chypre” are fit for purpose in this day and age. Do they mean anything to consumers? do they represent they way fragrances smell? Are terms like “oriental” offensive? Listen and you’ll find out!

Warning: I will be saying the word “vibe” an annoying amount of times in this review…

Vanilla Vibes is the lastest launch from punky French niche brand Juliette Has a Gun. I am a self-confessed Juliette fan – I think what they do is accessible, high quality and whilst they sometimes miss the mark (Not a Perfume, Anyway) they often make interesting, wearable work that offers something different (Sunny Side Up, Gentlewoman, Lady Vengeance). Vanilla Vibes is filed neatly into the interesting camp – a fresh, mineral take on vanilla that is inspired by festivals in the desert,

How sustainable is your perfume? On this week’s episode, Thomas and Nick talk about how our fragrances can be renewable, recyclable and refillable, covering how the fragrance industry is trying to make itself more sustainable for the future.

As always, there is a round-up of new and noteworthy fragrances including launches from Paco Rabanne and Juliette Has a Gun.

I’m always crushing on something scented or other. My nose knows no limits. Candy Crush is where I showcase the beautifully scented things I’m crushing on right now so you can hopefully develop a crush too.

There is a lot of perfume out there, let’s be real. Each year we see about 2,000 new launches which makes it pretty impossible to smell them all – heck, that makes it difficult to even know about them all! So what’s a perfume lover to do? Scour the department stores for what’s good and exciting? Traverse the many corners of the internet to compile a shortlist of things to go out and try? Or maybe there’s another way? Indeed there is – Sniph!